I am glad I finally had the opportunity to read Paradise Lost. It deserves the acclaim that it has received over the past 400 years. That being said, I don't think it is necessary to read the entire epic poem unless someone is assigned to do so or wishes to inflict self-induced agony. Books I, IV, and IX (along with the last four lines of Book XII) contain the most emotionally-wrought and action-packed scenes, but for most readers, I think reading only these sections along with the Arguments at the beginning of each book would be sufficient.

What amazes me the most about Paradise Lost is not only how Satan seems relatable at times (really - how many of us have been jealous of a sibling at one time or another?), but also how the epic poem came to be. At the time, Milton was blind and dictated the entire work to a transcriber. That's right -- dictated. I have a hard enough time writing fourteen lines of iambic pentameter for a graded assignment. I can't imagine coming up with those same lines without having the luxury of a visual outline or being able to edit a line without saying, "Hey, bud. You know that line after Adam and Eve start to blame each other for their fall? ...How am I supposed to remember the line number?!"

I understand that Paradise Lost is a great work of literature. However, I think some of it is a bit excessive (see Books II, III, V-VIII, X-XI, and most of XII), even though the story probably needed these parts in order to succeed as a whole. Three stars for the book, five stars for Milton's genius.

lmao the Son really said “im not even using half of my power” when he fought Satan

Well, the poetry is quite good. But there were a few parts that fell in the action department. Paradise Lost is much, much more interesting than Paradise Regained. I feel this is possibly because Milton made Satan to be such an anti-villain that you couldn't at least blame him for rising up over an overbearing monarch.
There may be some values dissonance here as well, some sources say this is a very Calvinist book, which is not as popular a view nowaparts.

Milton was completely blind by the time he finished this staggering classic work of poetry in 1667. It is difficult to conceive how this epic was created, so intricate and comprehensive is it in its theme and execution, telling of the Creation of the World, Humanity, the Great War in heaven, Satan’s Fall and anti-heroic posture, Adam and Eve’s love and tragic fall (as powerfully depicted as I have ever encountered), and the prophesied redemption of all things. Replete with poetic phrases which have become justly famous, this is not an easy book necessarily, but it is a beautiful and still potent one.

Milton's Paradise Lost is a brilliant work worth reading, but it is not an easy read.

The theme and several references were familiar due to my Greek Christian cultural background which made it easier to understand; however, I found the language very difficult, especially in the first pages that I had to read them several times to even start understanding who was talking, when, and what was happening.

Eventually, I got used to the language and style, and it flowed easier, but I still needed to highlight every time a character spoke and I needed a dictionary on more words than I can count, some of which they were not even in the dictionary and I had to figure them out from the context or roots of the word. Also, the long lists of mixed Roman and Greek ancient references (many unknown to me) felt dull and possibly unnecessary to that extend.
It was annoying, albeit the knowledge interesting, to interrupt my reading each time to find out the name or place he was mentioning.

Nevertheless, I am impressed with Milton's incredible talent to basically take a few bible verses and summarize in this long epic poem the most fundamental biblical themes by imagining a whole world in details written with such brilliant descriptions, narration, and dialogues.

Paradise Regained...